The Feast

This morning was a rough one! I stayed up a little later than usual last night. This was due to my baking. Once I was done, I was too awake to just go to bed, plus Shane was asleep so I decided to play on the computer for a bit. (Blogging and such) But then I had a rough night’s sleep after that so I probably got about 4 hours of sleep total. Yuck!

Still. I had my luncheon today at work for a co-worker that is moving out of town. I had to get up and get some cheesy potatoes going in the crock pot.

And I had to get all the cupcakes and crockpot down to my car. THEN carry it all in to work. Whew!

I was really cranky all day too. Must have been the sleep deprivation. Usually I’m super nice even to the most irritating customer.

ANYWAYS. On to more important things…FOOD.

Breakfast was “Banana Bread” oatmeal.

 

In it was oats, water, egg whites, almond milk, chopped up banana, cinnamon and sweetener to taste. It was a little bland though. I’ll have to work on it and add some spices to make it more “banana bready”.

I just had that and my coffee for breakfast. And didn’t even have my afternoon snack. Why? Because this was waiting for me for lunch:

Beer bread and spinach dip…

  

Veggie tray…

 

Taco dip…

 

Cheese and crackers…

 

My cupcakes…

 

Cookies…

 

And these chocolate carmel bars.

And I didn’t even get a picture of the table of crockpots! There were three. Mine with cheesy potatoes, one with chili, and one with meatballs. This is mostly what I ate. Lunch was a bowl of chili, a few meatballs, some potatoes with ketchup (the best!) and some veggies. Then I did have one of each treat for dessert.

No workout today because I was just way too tired. Oh well. Dinner will be healthy!

Mini Cuppycakes!

Today started off with some “Apple Crisp”. Sadly, I haven’t had oatmeal in a few days…all out of oats!

 

Still delicious though. In case you missed my recipe a few posts ago, here it is again. I just chop up the apple, toss it in some lemon juice, then add cinnamon and sweetener to taste. I do this the night before and pack a serving of cereal (I like Kashi Go Lean) in a baggie. Then at work I microwave the apple for about 1min 30sec. Give it a stir, add the cereal, stir a little more and PRESTO! Nutritious and delicious! (And just 3 points while getting lots o’ fiber, protein and fruit)

Check out the closeup!!

 

For a mid-morning snack I had some tasty cantelope.

 

(Ignore the tuna to the left…I reused an old picture as I forgot to take one of my snack today)

Then on my lunch break I took a power-walk in heels quick trip to the grocery. I needed a few things to make treats for a co-worker’s “Goodbye and Good Luck Party”…and needed a few essentials (uh, oats?). When I got back, I ate a PB&J and a nanner…but I was working at this point so forgot to snap the pic.

For my afternoon snack I had a Gala apple with some PB. Had to get some fuel in there for my run. This is quite possibly my favorite snack.

 

I came home from work and went for a quick run. Yay for days getting longer! I got my whole run in (only 3 miles) before dark! I actually wanted to go longer…but I forgot to cover my ears and after 3 miles my ears were aching sooo badly. Plus I had some baking to do so I just decided that was enough for today’s run.

I started baking and making dinner after my shower. Dinner was a delicious cheeseburger on an Arnold bun with sweet potato fries. Yummmm!

 

And now, what you’ve been anticipating: the baked goods!!

 

Devils Food cupcakes (no recipe…just used a box mix). I filled them with chocolate goo…sorry, not sure what to call it. I made it by melting a can of sweetened condensed milk with a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. I just used a frosting bag with a large tip to fill the cupcakes.

Then I topped them with buttercream icing using the sweet new 1 tip.

 

I found these super cute cupcake liners…but they didn’t look very pretty after baking. Not sure what the deal is. Maybe they only look good with white cake? This is my first time using patterened ones so I’m not sure.

 

I think I need to get an actual tool to fill cupcakes too. I thought I was really getting a lot in there…but look there’s just a teeny bit! Bummer! Oh well. They taste yummy. (I ate one that I thought the frosting was ugly on)

Welp it’s so past my bedtime. Nighty night!

Valentines Day

Ok I’m late posting about this, I know. But it’s been a bit of a rough week. We were in the process of buying a home. We got to the point of a home inspection and…DISASTER! The pipes burst when they turned on the water, things are missing left and right, major furnace issues. Then we had ONE day to make a decision because the bank wouldn’t give us longer. So we said thanks, but no thanks. And now we start the search again. (We have been looking since May 2009 and made offers on 3 homes…so it’s getting a little old!)

BUT I didn’t want to leave out my Valentines Day post so…here it is!

Even though we said no gifts (due to saving every last penny for what we thought was going to be our home purchase), Shane got me a little something.

Some sugar free chocolates (better for the diet) and some bridal magazines!! It was the best gift.

We thought about going out to dinner…but around dinner time we decided we just wanted to relax at home. We already had a bottle of one of our favorite wines at home.

(Did I mention we were in our PJs?)

We ordered takeout from a newish mediterranian restaurant called Ambrosia. I had Chicken Marsala. It had mushrooms and an amazing wine sauce. On the side I had steamed veggies and garlic mashed potatoes. Holy yum!

Shane ordered Lemon Garlic Chicken. It had mushrooms, artichokes and a lemony-garlic sauce. It was a little too citrusy for him but I thought it tasted pretty good. I gave him one of my chicken breasts though since there was no way I could eat both.

 

We also ordered hummus. Shane wanted hummus with lamb meat, so we got one that way and one plain. Suprisingly I LOVED the kind with the lamb.

 

We had LOTS of fresh, warm and amazingly delicious pita bread.

Yum Yum Yum!!! Oh and you can see we had salad (there’s a little hint of it in the bottom left corner of this pic) but I somehow didn’t get any photos of it. But it was just basic salad…I think you can imagine it.

While eating we watched a movie. I think this is the third time we’ve seen this but it’s a great romantic comedy. Plus we’re totally on a Jason Segal kick lately. He’s hilarious!!

 

And that was our simple, but perfect, Valentines Day 2010! Hope you had a great one too!

Cake on the brain

I was supposed to go to yoga this morning…but I didn’t. I don’t know what is wrong, but I starting feeling pain in my lower abdomen last night. I started feeling it while working my abs. It felt like something was tearing. But I was able to finish my workout (including a 45 minute spin class and the rest of my ab moves) without any more pain. Until I was done. Then it hurt when I moved at all…and I even could still feel it standing still. Yikes. So when I woke up this morning, I moved around to see if I could still feel pain, and I could. So yoga would have probably really hurt.

I liked my outfit today so I took a picture. Not very good though. Bad lighting + bad camera + still learing photographer =

Breakfast today was some blueberry oatmeal. Yummmmmmmy!

With some coffee and water of course!

Lunch was a salad with romaine mix, field greens, cucumber, and cranberry balsamic dressing…

Some string cheese…

And a turkey wrap.

In it was some cracked pepper turkey (didn’t care for that too much. we won’t get that flavor again!), greens, cherry tomatoes, and a squirt of FF ranch dressing.

And then instead of the co-worker’s birthday cake that I was offered

I had a healthier option of chocolate pudding. It was tasty!

But I just couldn’t stop thinking about cake! I seriously considered baking cupcakes once I got home. I even found some recipes. But the more I thought about it, I was seriously afraid that I would eat more than one…and then I’d feel super guilty. Since there is nowhere close to me that sells individual cupcakes, I headed home. (I flexed today, which means I got off at 2:30pm) I tried everything to get my mind off cake. I cleaned, did dishes, did laundry, still wanted cake. But by now I actually was hungry. And was planning a run this evening so I actually did need to have a snack. I found a Cliff Bar in the kitchen and some frosting in the fridge. Instant cake!

Now ok, I know that frosting is not that healthy. BUT a Cliff Bar with a smear of frosting is WAY better than a slice of that cake. PLUS it filled me up. Now I’m off to my run at Levis Commons, the outdoor mall. Woo hoo!

Oatmeal rocks!

Ok ok. I know I’m behind. Rather than document each meal I’ve had since my last post, I’m just going to talk about one.

Oatmeal.

 I could eat it EVERY DAY. And for the most part, I do. This sounds super boring and probably like I’m stuck in a rut…but that is why I’m doing this post. There are more ways to eat oatmeal than you could ever imagine. And there isn’t much else that I can eat for the same amount of points (WW) that keeps me full and satisfied for hours. Plus, it’s DE-LISH. Whenever I make oatmeal, I make 2 servings at a time. It fits well in my medium saucepan. I just split it into two dishes and pop them in the fridge. Sometimes Shane takes it to work to eat or sometimes I eat them both just on different days. Here are some of my favorite recipes (remember these are to make TWO servings):

Apple Cinnamon – 1 3/4c water, 1c oats, 2/3c egg white substitute, 1 apple (chopped), cinnamon and sweetener to taste. (3 points per serving)

 Chocolate Cherry – 1 3/4c water, 1c oats, 2 scoops chocolate protien powder (I use the Biggest Loser brand), 1T cocoa, 1c frozen cherries, sweetener to taste. (3 points per serving)

Peaches and Cream – 1 3/4c water, 1c oats, 2/3c egg white substitute, 1/2 small bag of frozen peaches, sweetener and non-dairy creamer to taste. (3 points per serving)

For this one, since the peaches were slices, once they were soft I used a potato masher to break them up.

Blueberries and Cream – 1 3/4c water, 1c oats, 2/3c egg white substitute, 1c frozen blueberries, sweetener and non-dairy creamer to taste. (3 points per serving)

I’m always coming up with new ones, so I’ll add them as I make them.

STILL sore!

Ok I am seriously still sore from my new workouts this week! But I’m a little behind on blogging, so let’s rewind.

Breakfast Wednesday:

Not very pretty, I know. But it tasted great. Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal. 1/2 c oats, water, 1/3 c egg whites, 1/2 of an apple chopped, cinnamon, and sugar. Yum!

Lunch, not suprisingly, included another salad:

I also had tuna with crackers and an apple:

Altogether:

I decided to take a rest day today. I was so sore, my legs were aching and so were my abs. I figured my muscles could use the break.

Hamburgers for dinner! Yay! Hamburgers = Ketchup. I love ketchup, in case you didn’t know. I had a hamburger on an Arnold thin with some greens on top.

On the side I had some potatoes. They were really easy and delicious. I just sliced up a couple of red potatoes, put them in a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil and half a pack of onion soup mix. Mmmmm.

I also had some broccoli on the side.

For dessert I had an apple with peanut butter. My favorite. But the camera ate the pic…

This morning I got up and put chili in the crock-pot. Isn’t that the best? I just love knowing dinner will cook itself while I’m at work. All there is to do is come home and eat!

 I also woke up huuuungry. So since I was headed to the gym, I grabbed a Cliff bar from the kitchen and ate it during my drive.

I sort of regretted it later though. It contained 5 points. Woah. And, I still was hungry after working out. :-/ Bummer.

I tried another new workout this morning: yoga. I took a class at the gym. I was a little nervous having never really done it before. But it was awesome. I’ll definately be continuing that. It stretched out all of my muscles, but worked them at the same time. Amazing. I followed that with my  ab workout. I’m sure I’ll be super sore again tomorrow!

Like I said, the Clif Bar didn’t keep me satisified very long. I got to work and had the other half of my Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal from yesterday. (I always make two batches of oatmeal at once…it’s just easier for me)

For lunch I had a leftover hamburger from last night on an Arnold Thin. I also had my last salad from the batch. No pic, but I think you can imagine.

For my afternoon snack, I had an apple and string cheese.

Tonight I did something else new. I’m really into new workouts this week I guess! Well this wasn’t a new workout…just running…but it was at a new place. I went to Levis Commons, an outdoor mall. The running shoe store there called Second Sole hosts a run there Thursday nights at 6:30pm. They had a 3 mile course marked out complete with mile markers. I ran 5 miles tonight. No clue on time. I need to get a watch battery. Or what I really need to do is just spend the money on the Garmin Forerunner that I want. Sigh.

Dinner was (duh) chili. I keep trying to add the photo, but I’m having trouble. I think my post is getting too long and it’s telling me that it is time for bed. I whole heartedly agree. Goodnight!

Hello Muscles!

Holy cow I am sore today! First off, from my new ab workout I tried last night. Then this morning I tried a new class called Muscle Madness. I didn’t even feel like I was working ALL that hard. But boy, once I got to work, I sure felt all my muscles. It got worse from sitting at my desk forever and my muscles would turn to stone (or that’s how it felt). I warned my co-workers that I might fall over when trying to sit or stand. (Half joking…)

I am (obviously) super new to the blogging thing. I completely forgot to document dinner and dessert last night. And oh, breakfast today. Sheesh. Dinner was delish though. The hubby-to-be made chicken parmesan style chicken (chicken breasts breaded and baked, covered in pasta sauce), garlic toast made on Arnold thins and broccoli. Hit the spot! Dessert was random…half a banana cut up with chocolate pudding. It was tasty though. Theeennn…breakfast this morning was chopped apples tossed in some lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. I microwaved them for a few, then put Kashi Go Lean on top. Yuummmm!

Lunch, I remembered to get.

Salad was just like yesterdays. (I premade 4 of them…so you’ll probably see more!) Then toasted an Arnold thin, spread it with PB and put banana slices on top. Oh and today I had my waterbottle. Yay!

Today was Melissa’s birthday, so we had a  treat.

For my afternoon snack I had a cookie…or three. (They were small!) And a cup of coffee. Usually I don’t have caffeine after lunch. But I was sooooo tired! I really needed a pick-me-up.

It snowed all afternoon. Not surprising for February in Ohio…though not much stuck.

What does this weather make you want to do? Go out for a 5 mile run? Me too!

Oh yeah. That is a Bedford Kicking Mules Wrestling sweatshirt I’m sporting! The run went ok. Ran in 55 minutes. Not great…but half the time I was shuffling because I was afraid to actually “run” for fear of falling on my face. It started getting suuuuper slippery! And the pants? Definately did not keep my legs warm enough. Need to do a little shopping I think.

I was famished when I got home, so I snacked on a Fiber One Banana Nut muffin.

Taco time now! Then bed. I’m pooped! Night!

Forgetful Monday!

Happy Monday!

I had to drive the “Exploder” around today because I keep forgetting to get an oil change. (Really I just don’t like going…especially by myself) So my super awesome fiance drove my car and got the oil change on his lunch!

I definately didn’t forget my delicious breakfast! Chocolate Banana Oats and Coffee!!

Yum! I tried a new mix. 1/2 c oats, water, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1/2 cut up ‘nanner. Yum yum yum!

I forgot my waterbottle today. At least I have a big ol’ cup that I can use. But what was I going to do for spinning class tonight?! Thankfully, yet again, the fiance comes to the rescue. He had 2 bottles of water and would be at the gym when I arrived. Sigh. So here is lunch…with my ugly cup. (Gotta get that H2O in though, bottle or not, right?)

A tasty salad with romaine mix, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, and some other greenery with pomegranite vinegrette. Yum! Then I had some tuna with a serving of Special K crackers.

Of course, around 2:30pm…breaktime = snacktime. So I had an apple (some of these that I bought say “pink lady” and some say “pinata”. Are they the same thing? Not sure…) in a cup. Is there any other way to eat an apple at work? I think not. I also had a new type of Fiber One bar. Only 1 point! Woo hoo! It was very yummy!!

After work, I headed to the gym. Guess what. Forgetful time!! No socks. Ugh! But this would not deter me from working out. Oh no. I was not afraid to look like a huge dork. I rolled down my teddybear socks that I’d work to work and rocked the look with my running shoes.

Snazzy right? Ew my ankle is not that huge. I don’t know how I didn’t notice how gross it looked in that photo. Bad angle, I hope?

 I did a spinning class, which was interesting. We had a substitute…sometimes that’s tough for me. Especially because I’d never even seen this person before. But it was still a great workout. I also did my new ab routine. Holy guacamole!! I think I’m going to be sore tomorrow. And I’ll prolly be known as “The Situation” come summer. Ok maybe not.

Time for dinner and tv! Shane cooked tonight…but not because I forgot how!

Numero Uno

Yep. I’m starting a blog.

Here goes nothing.

Not much to post as it’s nearly bedtime, but I just wanted to share a neat idea. See, you really shouldn’t hand me a box of cereal/crackers/cookies and expect me to only eat the “suggested serving size.” So, why not pack them up into individual servings to be safe?

Tonight’s example is Special K Crackers. YUM. 24 crackers in a serving, 2pts.

I took them out of the box and put them into baggies of 24.

Then, just put them back into the box to store!

Now when I want crackers, I just take a baggie and know just what I’m eating. No need to eat half the box count before eating!

G’night!